Mary Cecilia Bailly
| birth_place = Mackinac County, Michigan | death_date = | death_place = Terre Haute, Indiana | buried = Sisters of Providence Convent Cemetery, Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, Indiana | nationality = | religion = Roman Catholic | residence = | parents = Joseph Aubert de Gaspé Bailly de Messein and Marie Le Fèvre de la Vigne | occupation = | profession = | alma_mater = | signature = | other = }} Mother Mary Cecilia Bailly (June 2, 1815 - 1898) was the General Superior of the Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, Indiana from 1856-1868, directly succeeding Saint Mother Theodore Guerin, the congregation's foundress. During her time in office, she began rebuilding the Academy (now Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College and sent Sisters of Providence to staff military hospitals in Indianapolis and Vincennes, Indiana during the American Civil War. She was born Eleanor Cecilia Kinzie Bailly in Mackinac County, Michigan, on June 2, 1815. Her father was Joseph Aubert de Gaspé Bailly de Messein, a Canadian fur magnate of French descent, and her mother was Marie Le Fèvre de la Vigne, a member of the Ottawa tribe. When Eleanor was seven, the family moved to the Joseph Bailly Homestead in Calumet, Indiana. This homestead was much traveled by various Native American tribes, including the Menominee, Winnebago, Fox and Dakota Sioux.Brown 1949, p. 128 Eleanor entered the Sisters of Providence on November 25, 1841. In 1843 she was selected to accompany Mother Theodore Guerin on a fundraising trip to France. The pair left Saint Mary-of-the-Woods on April 26, 1843, and sailed to France, where they spent time with the Sisters of Providence of Ruillé-sur-Loir and met with dignitaries including Maria Amalia of the Two Sicilies, Queen of France.Brown 1949, pp. 268-291 Upon returning, Bailly spent time teaching at the Academy, now Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College, and took full administrative charge of the institute in 1848.Brown 1949, pp.530, 565 As General Superior Bailly became General Superior of the Sisters of Providence in 1856 upon the death of Mother Theodore, earning the title of Mother Mary Cecilia. During her administration, she sent Sisters of Providence to staff schools in many Indiana towns including Washington, New Albany, Cannelton, Fort Wayne, Indianapolis, Loogootee, Vincennes and Lafayette. In 1858 Mother Mary Cecilia secured the services of Diedrich A. Bohlen, an architect from Indianapolis, to construct a new building for the Academy and several other buildings the congregation needed, including a bakehouse and a greenhouse.Logan 1978, p. 40 A small, temporary chapel was also built to fill the sisters' needs until a more permanent and majestic structure could be built. (The Church of the Immaculate Conception, this later, permanent structure, was not consecrated until 1907.) By May of 1861, Indiana was mired in the American Civil War and the wounded troops were in need of care. Indiana governor Oliver Morton called upon Mother Mary Cecilia to provide Sisters of Providence as nurses. On May 17, 1861, sisters took over administrative duties at Military Hospital in Indianapolis.Logan 1978, p. 65 The sisters were in charge of washing, cooking and cleaning, and several sisters served as nurses. The Sisters of Providence are now honored by monument in Washington, D.C., dedicated to the Nuns of the Battlefield of the Civil War. Mother Mary Cecilia became known for her decisiveness and firm leadership, which drew some sisters to her and caused others to look upon her unfavorably. Logan 1978, pp. 114-121 In the congregation's elections of 1868, Mother Mary Cecilia did not receive dispensation to continue as general superior and Sister Anastasie Brown was named in charge instead. This episode offended Mother Mary Cecilia and caused controversy among the community, some of whom viewed Brown, now known as Mother Anastasie, to be a usurper. For some time, there was talk of creating a new branch of the Sisters of Providence, with Mother Mary Cecilia in charge, on the old Bailly Homestead in Calumet, Indiana.White 2007, p. 112 However, with the 1874 election of a new general superior, Mother Mary Ephrem Glenn, these plans ceased and the community returned to a mostly united group.Logan 1978, pp. 172-197 In 1880 Mother Mary Cecilia went to minister St. Ann's Orphanage in Terre Haute, Indiana. She remained there, ministering to the orphans and writing an unfinished biography of Saint Mother Theodore Guerin, until her death in 1898. She is buried in the Sisters of Providence cemetery in Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, Indiana. References * * * * * * Category:1815 births Category:American Roman Catholics Category:American Roman Catholic nuns Category:1898 deaths Category:Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods Category:People of Indiana in the American Civil War Category:American Civil War nurses